Gas candles and the like



May 24, 1966 J. A. GODDARD GAS CANDLES AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 9, 1963 INVENTOR. (/O/W ANGELL 6 0004?!) United States Patent 3,252,308 GAS CANDLES AND THE LIKE John Ansell Goddard, Cobham, Surrey, England, assignor to Ronson Corporation, Woodbridge, N.J., a corporation of New Jersey Filed Sept. 9, 1963, Ser. No. 307,458 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Sept. 7, 1962, 34,400/ 62 2 Claims. (Cl. 67116) The present invention relates to gas candles, and the like, and more particularly to such device which includes a container for liquefied gas such as butane and is provided with a burner orifice.

It is known to construct gas candle-s having a body presenting the external appearance of a Wax candle, but

which contains a fuel reservoir for a liquefied gas such as butane. This body is usually provided with a fuel injection valve at the lower end to pemit it to be refilled and is provided with a burner orifice at the top end controlled by some form of manually operated valve. In normal operation the outlet valve is opened and a flame is applied to the gas jet issuing from the burner orifice to light the candle. A candle of this type is described in Patent No. 2,984,093, and while such candles have achieved considerable commercial success, nevertheless, it is a disadvantage of this known type of gas candle that it may be extinguished inadvertently, and, as a consequence, the remaining contents of the fuel reservoir are wasted through the open valve.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome this disadvantage in a very simple way. Thus, according .to' the present concept there is provided a liquefied gasfilled candle having a burner orifice, a thermally sensitive element positioned adjacent said burner orifice and a gas outlet valve controlled by said thermally sensitive element, the outlet valve being normally maintained closed by the thermally sensitive element, which is so selected and arranged that the application of a flame to the burner orifice causes the gas outlet valve to be opened and that the heat of the gas flame maintains the valve in the open condition. In one embodiment of the present invention, the burner aperture is located in the thermally sensitive element.

It is preferred that the thermally sensitive element be constructed of a bimetallic strip, because such a strip has a rapid thermal response and can be made economically and compactly.

Actually, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the gas outlet valve may conveniently take the form of a burner valve of the type which is employed in gasfilled smokers lighters. Such valves are commonly opened by depressing or raising a small stem, which is controlled by a burner cap or cover, fork lift or similar mechanism.

There has thus been outlined rather broadly the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are, of course, additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject of the claims appended hereto. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception upon which this disclosure is based may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures for carrying out the several purposes of the invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent construction as do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.

I A specific embodiment of the invention has been chosen for purposes of illustration and description, and is shown 3,252,398 Patented May 24, 1966 "Ice in the accompanying drawings, forming a part of the specification wherein:

FIG. 1(a) is an elevational view, partly in section, illustrating a preferred form of my invention with the valve in closed position;

FIG. 1( b) is a view of the valve and its control mechanism as shown in FIG. 1(a) but illustrating the mechanism in the open position;

FIG.' 1(a) is a top plan view of the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b);

FIG. 2 is similar to FIG. 1(a) but illustrates another preferred form of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1(a) to 1(c) thereof, there is shown an assembly that may, for example, take the form of a gas candle comprising an elongate, generally cylindrical body 10 formed with an annular collar 11 near its lower end. Be,- low the collar, the body 10 tapers inwardly as at 12 to a bottom wall 14 arranged to receive a fuel injection valve 15 which may be of conventional construction.

. The cylindrical body 10 serves as a fuel container for pressurized liquid fuel such as butane, for example, and has an upstanding portion 16 at its upper end into which is seated a shut-off and flame adjustment valve 17 of a type commonly used in smokers lighters and wherein the ,valve is biased towards open position and is maintained closed by means acting in opposition to the biasing force.

A somewhat tapered upper end cap 19 sits atop the body 10 and cooperates with it to give the overall appearance of a new wax candle while also serving to cover the valve and its control mechanism. The end cap is sealed relatively to the upstanding portion 16 of the body by means of an O-ring 20, for example, which is seated in grooves formed in the interior of the cap and the portion 16 for the purpose. A retaining ring 18 is supported within the upper end of the cap 19 and forms a burner orifice.

The present invention contemplates the provision of a valve control mechanism which, in the embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 1(a) to 1(0), comprises a bimetal thermosensitive element which takes the form. of a heat conductive disc 21 closing the upper end of the end cap 19. The disc 21 has an aperture 22 formed centrally therein and is provided with a downwardly extending leg 24 [formed by bending downwardly a tongue which is left projecting radially when the disc is originally formed. The edge of this disc is preferably slotted inwardly a short distance at each side of the root of the tongue, as shown at 25 (FIG. 1[c] The bimetal normally forces the valve spindle 26 downwardly to valve closing position, but is arranged to lift away from the spindle as the temperature of the bimetal is raised by applying a flame, as from a match or the like, adjacent the burner orifice. It will be understood that the heat of the flame is thus effective to open the gas outlet valve and the outflowing gas is ignited thereby. It will also be understood that the thermal response of the thermosensitive element should be short, so that the valve is opened within a short time, and it is found in practice that a response of the order of three or four seconds is easily attained. It will furthermore be appreciated that the burner aperture must be so arranged in relation to the normal gas flow released by the valve, that the gas flame maintains the temperature of the thermally sensitive element sufliciently high to hold the leg clear of the spindle. When the flame is extinguished, then the automatic cooling of the bimetal element will have the eifect of causing the leg to deflect downwardly andreclose the valve. The slots 25 in FIG. 1(c) have been slightly exaggerated in the drawing merely for clarity of those details, and in a commercial embodiment the slots corresponding to slots 25 would not be quite so large. However, it is quite apparent that the open space within the end cap and underneath the disc 21 will -fill with :gas which, under all ordinary circumstances, will issue from the burner aperture 22. Whatever gas may escape through the slots 25 will not cause a significant malfunction.

The construction of the present invention may be subjected to a number of variations without departing from the invention. Thus, where the valve employed is of the type which opens on depression of a spindle, the thermosensitive bimetal element may be reversed so as to provide a leg or other actuating projection which deflects away from the top disc on heating, instead of towards it as in the above described example.

Another preferred form of the invention is illustrated in FIG. 2 wherein the end cap 19 supports the nozzle tip 18 as described, and the tip in turn supports a disc like bimetal element 30 in which the leg 31 has a hole 32 formed in it which is in axial alignment with the aperture 34 in the upper or disc part. Into this hole 32 is loosely fitted one end of a shut-E tube 35' which provides a passage for the gas between the valve and burner orifice, the other end of the tube resting on the valve stem 36. The bimetal is arranged so that the leg lifts away from the valve stem as the temperature of the bimetal element is raised by applying a flame (match, lighter, etc.) adjacent the burner orifice. The lifting of this leg permits the gas pressure to lift the valve stem which lifts the shut-off tube, the shut-off tube virtually forming an extension of the valve stem.

The shut-off tube is held in axial alignment with the valve by a bearing sleeve 37 which is bushed into a nozzle liner 39. To prevent any leakage of gas through the space between the shut-off tube and the bearing sleeve, a moulded rubber sealing sleeve 40 is fitted between the lower end of the bearing sleeve and the shut-ofl? tube. This moulded rubber sleeve can be of the bellows or any other conventional type so as to offer the least resistance to the vertical movement of the shut-off tube.

When theleg 3 1 of the bimetal element lifts on the application of a flame to the nozzle tip, the shut-01f tube 35 is lifted by the valve stem 36 which is pushed upwards by the gas pressure, and gas now passes from the reservoir and through the open valve into the shut-off tube through a radial hole 41 in its lower end and is emitted from the shut-off tube immediately below the aperture in the bimetal element, where it is ignited by the aforesaid flame.

In the foregoing examples, the gas outlet valve con sidered Was of the type which is self-opening and is maintained closed by the application of an external mechanical force; However, other outlet valves are known where an external mechanical force has to be applied to open them. In one such valve a tubular element may be lifted by means of a pivoted lever, having a forked end, which engages under trunnion pins on the tubular element.

It will be appreciated by those persons skilled in the art that other forms of thermosensitive element may be utilized to open and close the gas outlet valve automatically. Other possible forms of .thermosensitive element comprise a gas or liquid-filled bellows capsule or a gas or liquid-filled cylinder having a piston therein; or the heat sensitive element could be a solid or tubular metal rod rigidly fixed at one point. The application of heat to one end will cause the rod to lengthen, this motion being utilized to operate the outlet valve.

In addition to its application to gas-filled candles, the present invention may also be applied to devices such as small portable heaters and cookers, which employ a liquefied gas and are commonly controlled by means of manually operated valves.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have contributed by my invention, a valve control mechanism and an automatic gas candle employing such mechanism whereby the valve is opened upon the application of heat adjacent the mechanism and-is closed upon withdrawal of heat thereupon. Thus, upon inadvertent extinguishment of the flame, the valve is shut and fuel remaining in the fuel reservoir is retained.

I believe that the construction and operation of my .novel candle and valve control mechanism will now be understood and that the advantages of my invention will be fully appreciated by those persons skilled in the art.

I now claim.

1. A gas fueled candle or like implement of the character described, including a hollow body member having therein a chamber constructed to hold fuel of the butanetype under pressure, a fuel outlet valve mechanism mounted in said body member and including a valve 'operating member normally biased to maintain the valve open, end cap means enclosing the space above said valve mechanism and having means forming a burner orifice in the upper portion thereof, a heat-conductive element having an aperture therethrough and a thermallydeflectable extending leg, said element being mounted entirely within said cap means with a portion of said element being exposed to the flame formed in said burner orifice, said extending leg cooperating with said valve operating member to hold said member closed, when cold, against the biasing force and to permit the flow of gas from said chamber upon application of heat to said element.

2. The gas fueled candle or like implement as described in claim 1 wherein said heat-conductive element comprises a thermally-deflectable bimetallic disc and leg.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 417,719 12/1889 Garland 67116 522,601 7/1894 Kleinfeldt 671 16 545,302 8/1895 Mitchell 671 16 639,344 12/1899 Blevins 67116 1,607,355 11/ 1926 Long 671 16 1,711,398 4/1929 Sellman 158-140 1,711,400 4/ 1929 Spencer 671 16 1,931,462 10/ 1933 Stockmeyer 158-440 2,066,516 12/1942 Falligant et al. 6787 2,749,733 6/ 1956 Smith et al. 6787 FOREIGN PATENTS 13,335 1894 Great Britain. 13,411 1911 Great Britain.

FREDERICK L. MATTESON, JR., Primary Examiner.

EDWARD 1. MICHAEL, Examiner. M. L. BATES, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A GAS FUELED CANDLE OR LIKE INPLEMENT OF THE CHARACTER DESCRIBED, INCLUDING A HOLLOW BODY MEMBER HAVING THEREIN A CHAMBER CONSTRUCTED TO HOLD FUEL OF THE BUTANETYPE UNDER PRESSURE, A FUEL OUTLET VALVE MECHANISM MOUTED IN SAID BODY MEMBER AND INCLUDING A VALVE OPERATING MEMBER NORMALLY BIASED TO MAINTAIN THE VALVE OPEN, END CAP MEANS ENCLOSING THE SPACE ABOVE SAID VALVE MECHANISM AND HAVING MEANS FORMING A BURNER ORIFICE IN THE UPPER PORTION THEREOF, A HEAT-CONDUCTIVE ELEMENT HAVING AN APERTURE THERETHROUGH AND A THERMALLYDEFLECTABLE EXTENDING LEG, SAID ELEMENT BEING MOUNTED ENTIRELY WITHIN SAID CAP MEANS WITH A PORTION OF SAID ELEMENT BEING EXPOSED TO THE FLAME FORMED IN SAID BURNER ORIFICE, SAID EXTENDING LEG COOPERATING WITH SAID VALVE OPERATING MEMBER TO HOLD SAID MEMBER CLOSED, WHEN COLD, AGAINST THE BIASING FORCE AND TO PERMIT THE FLOW OF GAS FROM SAID CHAMBER UPON APPLICATION OF HEAT TO SAID ELEMENT. 